


Running Away from Time

by glxybbs



Category: BBS - Fandom, Banana Bus Squad, Gay baby gang, gbg
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, idk what else to tag, im v excited for this au, power au, the ship isnt MASSIVE but it plays a key part in the plot so... keep that in mind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 13:44:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15797736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glxybbs/pseuds/glxybbs
Summary: Einstein's theory of relativity explains that time is never consistent, that one earth hour could be an entire millennium in another galaxy. It tells us that time is nothing but an illusion, a concept some may say, to keep us from all losing our grip on whatever reality we chose to live. It reminds us that we are only human, and that time is the one thing that humanity will never be able to grasp hold of and take control over, no matter how hard we try.But what if we didn't have to try?





	Running Away from Time

**Author's Note:**

> I've been playing with this idea since April and I've finally figured out a plotline that I'm happy with! I can't wait to write this au properly and I'm excited to see what you think. I hope you enjoy it!

The street lights in the beach town had just started to turn on, illuminating the uneven cobbles and casting shadows of objects stolen from shipwrecks along the ground. A group of teenagers climbed up a rusted black anchor, laughter lacing their lips as they jumped and pulled each other up. A few adults were walking their dogs, passing the group and rolling their eyes as they watched the teens try to hold each other on the slanted monument. A few older people passed them and smiled, as if reminiscing the days that they longed to have back.

Late April sun was just setting over the horizon, vast indigos and broadly spread oranges decorating the blank blue canvas of the sky. Light grey clouds were thinly spread along the gradient of the sky, looking as if a paintbrush had been dragged along it in an attempt to clear the paint entirely. Outlines of small houses were silhouetted against the colours that contrasted against each other, grey shadows shifting and dancing as the light slowly shifted down the canvas of the sky. Multicoloured, checked bunting hung from the windows of the streets and from the lampposts lining the streets, some fairy lights crossed over them. The last few shops were closing along the beachfront, the neon 'open' lights flickering off and the bars closing over the windows.

A cool and salty breeze came off of the ocean. The sound of waves lapping against the shoreline mixed with the distant sound of laughter and a crackling fire. Sand was kicked up as a group of teenagers played a game of tag along the beach. Marshmallows were roasted over the open fire. Ice cold beer bottles were cracked open and standing up in the sand. Three logs surrounded the fire, a few blankets lying over them. A piece of driftwood marked a 'safe zone' from the game of tag, where two teens were lying over each other and staring up at the sky above them. A few people walked along the shore, not paying the group much attention. A butterfly fluttered past the fire.

"You wanna know something, Smit?" Cam asked, his sandy-blonde hair falling over his eyes and a sickly-sweet smile on his lips.

"Mhm." Smitty replied, his hand curled around a bottle and his burnt umber gaze not shifting from the sky.

"You're 18 in an hour." He ran his hands through the mess of white curls, twirling a lock around his finger for a short while.

"Thanks, babe." Smitty hummed. "I always forget about my own birthday."

"You're welcome." He let his head fall back to the sand, but his hand kept playing with the white curls. "My car's packed if you still wanna..."

"I do." Smitty jammed the bottle in the sand and let his hand move to join with the Kiwi's. "I don't know how much longer I-... I can stay here before I actually lose my mind."

"Tomorrow night?" Cam wore a small smile, his hands still fiddling with locks of Smitty's hair.

"Tomorrow night." Smitty repeated, his voice quiet. He hummed contently as Cam attempted to twist his hair into a plait, something which he had never been good at.

In that moment, they felt completely fireproof. Nothing could hurt them while they bathed in the warm light of the fire and under the vast embrace of exploding stars. They shared thoughts of running away, driving through red lights in old towns, speeding into a paradise that neither knew about just yet. They'd packed a case each, hiding them underneath the back seat of Cam's car. They'd saved money from doing odd-jobs around town and piled it all towards their adventure, telling their parents that they were putting it towards dreams that they had no intentions to fill.

"Can you two not be gay for like... Ten minutes?" Mason looked over the fire with a raised eyebrow, his brown hair falling over his eyes. 

"I have stage four terminal gay, Masie." Cam replied, not moving from where he was lying. "I might die soon. Have some fucking respect." 

"I am fucking respectful." Mason furrowed his brows and leaned back on the log, only to end up on his back in the sand. "O-I coulda died 'cause of you!"

"What a shame." Cam tutted, which only managed to make Smitty laugh harder than he already was.

The game of tag came to a stop soon afterwards and everyone gravitated back towards the fire. A few more bottles were cracked open, the fire became louder as more marshmallows were held over it and as more driftwood was thrown into its heart. Swagger started to pass a blunt around the circle. Jay tried to open up with a confession spiral. Toby tried to play never have I ever, despite not knowing how to play. Bordie and Matt started a conversation about the moon. Ezra was kicking sand at various people and then running to hide when they noticed. Mason stared at the flaming marshmallow on the stick he was holding. Cam and Smitty cuddled into each other, both smiling. 

The slow lapping of the waves hitting the shoreline soon subsided to the laughs of the teens, and the sky soon faded to a vast picture of stars and thinly spread clouds. The oranges and reds of the fire illuminated the group in a way that made them feel safe. Nothing else mattered to them in that moment. Nobody worried about their finals or about how they were going to sneak back into their bedroom. Nobody mentioned school or homework. Nobody bitched about people who they barely knew or told rumours that had been circulating the town for several years.

Someone had started to play music when they all crowded around the fire, heavy synths of the 80s blaring through the speakers and bouncing back from the ocean. Some of the group had started to dance, carefree, with their arms in the air and grins painting their expressions in a sheet of gold. The others took photos and videos while the music was at its peak, laughing equally as hard. The onlookers had long passed by this point, leaving the group of teens alone on the sandy shore. 

A pile of poorly wrapped presents sat behind Smitty and Cam, all with glittering tags and unintelligible handwriting on the other side. His personal favourite was 'Mason signed three gifts and didn't buy any of them. Don't let him fool you. I watched him sign them.' Mason had, of course, argued the fact that he was partially broke from not having a stable job, and Toby had thrown a tennis ball at him to shut him up.

"Get closer together." Bordie pulled her phone from her pocket and held it sideways, her face lit up with a faint blue glow. "I wanna put this in the yearbook." 

Smitty buried his face into Cam's shoulder and laughed. His cheeks flushed bright red. "Why?" 

Cam pressed a kiss to his head. The first of many clicks echoed along the shore.

"I don't have any 'cutest couple' photos yet and if things keep going how they might be going, I might need a few photos of you." She frowned at the photo she'd taken and lifted her phone over the fire for a second time. "So fuckin' smile at me, God damnit." 

"Am I in the running for anything?" Mason watched the photo being taken, an inquisitive look on his face. 

"Worlds stupidest high schooler." Swagger muttered, pressing the lip of his bottle to his mouth. "If you asked me."

They all laughed. Bordie took another photo of Cam and Smitty, this time grinning as the click sounded. 

"I'm gonna go get another drink." Smitty pulled himself out of Cam's grip, planting a quick kiss on his cheek before slipping his shoes on and bringing himself to his feet. The sleeves of his stolen hoodie were pulled over his hands, protecting them from the bitter breeze that came from the midnight sea. 

"Don't leave me waiting." Cam smiled softly. 

Bordie took a third photo, a minute before the clock turned to midnight.

Then it all stopped. 

As if someone had pressed the power button while watching a movie, cutting the speech and the music entirely and launching themselves into silence. The fire didn't crackle. The laughter stopped buzzing through the air. The waves stopped lapping against the shore. The 1980s synths stopped splitting the atmosphere in two. The clicks of the camera cracked in half. The soft sound of the breeze drifted to a pause. 

"Cam?" Smitty turned in the sand. His eyes widened.

Everything was frozen. Cam was watching him with a smile. Mason was holding a flaming marshmallow too close to his face for it to be safe. Toby had his hands in the air. Bordie was holding her phone close the fire. Matt was watching the group with a grin. Swagger was laughing. Jay was trying to pick up a piece of driftwood that was half a foot taller than him. Ezra was aiming a burnt marshmallow at the back of Mason's head. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Nobody danced to the music. Nobody cracked a half-assed joke at someone else's expense. 

Smitty inched closer, the crunch of sand beneath his feet being almost overwhelmingly loud. "W-... Cam?" 

Cam didn't reply. 

A faint golden glow appeared around his head, blending with the paused orange ambers that stood in the air. He stumbled back, tripping over a log and landing in the sand. He kicked himself backwards, a wall of sand flying around his body and landing back where it had been before. He pushed himself to his feet, falling straight back down with how fast he'd gotten back up. The golden glow got brighter. 

He got back to his feet and started to run. He ran as fast as he could, his chest heaving and his feet uneven on the temperamental surface. His mind was racing faster than he could keep up with, situations and scenarios fighting each other on the sides of the track of his mind. Maybe it was just the weed. Maybe he'd just fell asleep while Cam was talking, which wasn't unheard of, and this was all one stupid nightmare. An infinite number of maybes appeared at the frontlines of his mind, throwing their scenarios into the mix before retreating back to the trenches they sat in.

The thuds of his shoes running up the concrete steps was the only sound he could hear. His panicked breaths rang through his ears like a bitter melody in a quiet, yet sweet, song. His eyes quickly filled with tears when he reached the top, his pale hands curling around the chipping black paint of a lamppost. A sob sat on his shoulders. He could see them, frozen in a time they didn't want to forget. He could smell the smoke from the fire. He could taste the alcohol that Toby had brought from his house by the seafront. 

This wasn't how his birthday was supposed to go. This wasn't right. 

A few stray tears fell down his face. The golden glow around his head got brighter. A butterfly landed on his shoulder, disappearing into thin air as soon as he noticed it was there. He let go of the lamppost, his hands getting colder by the minute. He rolled the sleeves of Cam's hoodie up his arms and nipped himself as hard as he could, biting his tongue at the same time to see if he could wake himself up. He drew blood before he made himself stop. 

He used a shaky hand to pull his phone from the pocket of his stolen hoodie, his fingers shaking as they tried to turn it on. 11:59, Friday 19th April. A photo of Cam with a barely-awake smile met him, a photo from a day that was never too far from the front of his mind. The same day that they'd woken up in the same bed after three hours of quizzing each other for an upcoming calculus test. The same day that Cam had dragged Smitty onto his motorbike and took him to the arcades while the sun was barely in the sky. The same day that they'd raced each other down the boardwalk and almost fell over the railings as they skidded to a stop on the slippery boards. The same day that Smitty had laughed hard enough to make himself cry. The same day that they'd spent ten minutes in a photobooth, trying to get a photo where neither was laughing. The first time that Smitty had truly felt alive.

He started to run again. 

Cars were stopped in the middle of the road. Cats were paused jumping through the air. Shadows of people in their bedrooms were standing still. A girl was sitting alone at a bus stop, headphones in and her gaze set on her boots. A bike was resting at a 45-degree angle, the handlebars twisted and the wheels barely keeping it upright. Lights from lampposts were halfway through flickering, oranges and yellows casting stagnant shadows across the uneven cobbles that lined the streets. No sounds played in the idle town. 

Blue and purple lights and streamers came from one house, a party that none of them had been invited to happening inside. He saw coloured fairy lights and red solo cups through the open curtains, a table tennis ball hanging midway through the air. Floral furniture and a bedsheet set up as a tent were the only visible things through the window, a few confetti-filled balloons were hanging in mid-air. A boy with curled blonde hair was smiling through the window, bloodshot emerald eyes filled with delirious glee. The front door was wide open, coloured lights streaming through the white door frame. A balloon was halfway through popping in the front garden.

White houses with green ivy draping around their windows and blue houses with white ships wheels above their doors passed by as he ran. He passed the anchor he'd been hanging from three hours ago, and a monument of a sailor whose name nobody could remember. He passed Cam's house, the lights in the living room still on and the shadows of his parents visible through the open curtains. They were watching a reality show, the captions on as per usual, and were both in the middle of talking to one another.

He ran up the hill that lead to his house, his chest heaving and his legs stinging. Trees outlined half of the street, a brick and iron fence barricading it off from the rest of the world. His house was opposite the gate that lead inside, a metal chain holding it closed from an accident that may or may not have been Smitty' fault. 

His dad's car was still parked in the driveway, a black tarp over the windshield to stop the sun from burning the inside up. The kitchen light was still on, the blinds open. His mom was stood in front of the window with a white mug in her grasp, her painted red nails even more chipped than they had been and tears tracing her cheeks. His dad was halfway out of the front door, a bag over his shoulder and a hat covering his head. The flowers in the garden were still slightly wilted from the neglect they'd suffered over the summer filled with arguments, previous bright reds and yellows faded to cold browns and dismal greens. The curtains over his window were drawn closed, a plastic plant and a few photos facing away from the outside world. 

It was practically inevitable after the week that they'd had – but he didn't think that it would happen on his birthday. The arguments had become intolerable in recent weeks, screaming matches forcing Smitty to climb out onto the roof and call Cam just to get an escape from it all. It was those nights that he was thankful that they didn't live in the city, where the night sky was clouded by an almost constantly layer of smog. The stars felt somewhat friendlier when it was quiet, even though they were billions of years away. For the first night in over a month, there was nobody on the roof.

Caught up in his daydream, he completely missed his neighbour's door opening. He was too busy staring at his dad's stern, yet somewhat broken, expression to hear the all too familiar clicking of boots moving towards him. He was too busy caught in a fake reality to bring himself back into the moment. 

"Smitty!"


End file.
